CHAIRMAN OF HALIFAX-BASED COLLETT & SONS LTD, RICHARD COLLETT II HAS PASSED AWAY AGED 81.
Richard was born at Braithwaite Farm, Keighley on the 26th August 1942 to Richard and Margery Collett – the seventh born of nine children, he had 1 brother and 7 sisters.
His father Richard was a farmer and also had a milk collection business since 1928. From an early age Richard did jobs on the farm from helping with milking the herd, to going out with drivers in the wagons collecting milk from local farms and delivering to dairies.
In 1960, he married Patricia and went on to have 5 sons. Richard, David, Lincoln, Mark and Michael.
In 1962 he moved to Moorfield Farm at Wainstalls in Halifax. It was a derelict farm but started as a new operating base in Halifax, continuing with farming and milk collections.
In 1964 Richard formed a partnership with his father and the company became R. Collett and Son. Apart from milk collection they also worked for West Cumberland Farmers delivering animal feed. Initially, running a small fleet of about 8 ‘used’ trucks, he did all the wagon repairs himself until seeking help in the garage and additionally in 1975 his eldest son Richard became a mechanic upon leaving school.
In 1975 Richard formed the company R. Collett & Sons (Transport) Ltd and with 5 sons potentially coming into the business he turned to heavy haulage.
In 1976 he bought his first low loader, a small second-hand single axle crane Frauhauf low loader trailer. As the business began to grow, they outgrew Moorfield farm and in 1985 bought a yard in Keighley, which was once again outgrown and in 1996 the Company moved from both depots into the Albert Road Depot at Pellon, Halifax, which is still the Head Office.
Whilst his education was lacking, his enthusiasm for work drove him forward. He hardly attended school and he got expelled from a number of schools because of attendance. His reading and writing was poor, but none the less he was very bright, ambitious, had an excellent sense of judgement and a sharp business acumen.
He was a character who didn’t suffer fools, he was outspoken, but he was also very fair. As his sons and grandchildren left school, they joined the company contributing to the hugely successful business specialising in heavy transport that it has become today.
Richard was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002 and had numerous related issues and treatments from there on but continued to work.
Richard passed away on 9th February 2024 and will be sadly missed by all that knew him. He was buried at the Mount Pleasant cemetery in Wainstalls on 1st March following a service at the Halifax Minster.
